The death of Aimé Césaire, man of culture in action

Didier Pourquery reacts in an editorial to the death of French poet Aimé Césaire on April 17th in Fort-de-France, Martinique. "During his struggle, along the verses of his poems, the champion of 'négritude' incarnated, beyond his declared origins, a call. A universal call on human dignity. Aimé Césaire called his fellow humans awake wherever they were, called on them to find their forgotten identities and called on their responsibility to do so. First and foremost, it's this that was his strength. But at the same time, he recognised himself: 'I accept my origins, but what can I do with them?' He proved via his political career that what he discovered and lived helped him to call on others who wanted to change the world. ... Césaire's greatness was also in rolling up his sleeves in dealing with the problems that resulted from colonialism and solving them everyday, without fail. Poet and Member of Parliament, mayor and visionary, Aimé Césaire was a man of culture in action."

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